“The purpose of this study is to analyse the context, identify the origins, and explain the key determinants of the conflict in Gambella, its linkages with the political
and security issues in Sudan and Ethiopia, and its impact on regional peace and security. The Gambella region has since the mid-1990s witnessed factional fighting and inter-community violence between the Anuak and the Nuer, mainly over resources and for socio-cultural reasons. Although these two communities have historically clashed over resources and cultural identity-related issues,the nature and intensity of conflicts over the last two decades has been transformed by the Sudanese civil war and the political realities in Ethiopia in the early 1990s. This study focused on the regionalisation of the conflict, as well as the traditional competition and rivalry, to answer questions such as:Why is the Gambella region prone to conflict? What converts local/traditional disputes, which have
always been there, into an open large-scale regional conflict? The paper lays out a set of recommendation of how the Ethiopian government, IGAD and the AU can resolve conflict and build peace in the Gambella region. “
